Patient medical parameter data is acquired, collated, stored and displayed for use in providing patient clinical care in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare delivery settings. Patient medical parameter data may include vital signs ventilator information, infusion pump data associated with fluid delivery and other data. Such patient medical parameter data is typically displayed on a patient monitoring device screen in a trend indicative chart with a time axis. This type of chart is commonly termed a Flowsheet which is an electronic chronological chart of patient information that substitutes for a paper vital sign chart. A patient monitoring device is usually located at a patient bedside or nursing station in a hospital ward or in an intensive care, surgical or other location and may be connected to a network such as the Internet, a LAN, a WAN or an intra-net for acquiring patient parameter data from local sources (e.g., patient attached sensors) or remote sources (e.g., a remotely stored electronic patient record).
Existing patient parameter information display and Flowsheet systems fail to present patient vital parameter information in a manner that enables a user to quickly and accurately identify abnormal conditions that may require immediate intervention. Though known systems enable comparisons to be made between normal and abnormal parameters, these system fail to provide a user friendly presentation format enabling a user to quickly, efficiently and comprehensively identify abnormal or other conditions within a restricted image presentation. A system according to invention principles addresses these limitations and derivative problems.